


Let me out

by frogsarebitches



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Homelessness, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Kidnapping, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves-centric, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Powerless Klaus, Schizophrenia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:30:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogsarebitches/pseuds/frogsarebitches
Summary: Instead of Vanya being tricked into thinking she's ordinary, Klaus is instead - which makes Klaus’ insistence that he can still see their dead brother, Ben, exponentially more concerning. Luckily for Klaus, or maybe not,  there is someone who's willing to show him what's real and what isn't.
Comments: 49
Kudos: 232





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first thing I've ever written where I actually know where the plot is going lol so there's actually gonna be regular updates! Unheard of! Please leave comments they are my life blood xxx

The ghosts were deafening. Their screams slithered mercilessly into his ears, made homes in the putrid recesses of his mind, scuttled along the loud expanses of his nerve endings like a deadly virus until he was sweaty and writhing. They poked and prodded at his skull until it felt like the bone marrow itself might crumble to ashes right there in his head, and precisely then was when Klaus said enough was enough. He was calling time-out _.  _ He fumbled about in the half-light of the decrepit alley, the amber of the street lights providing his sole source of clarity, and brushed his hands half-blind along the dust coating of the floor beneath him. Eventually he stumbled across what he had been searching for; a small plastic bag stuffed underneath the weight of a brick by his side. He tipped it over with a grunt and snatched up the fruit of his labour; prizing open the plastic with shaky fingers until it finally gave way and a handful of blue pills spilled generously into his hand. He grinned at them, before leaning back against the cracked wall and eagerly swallowing his medicine. 

He came to with the gift of silence blessing his ears. His mind wasn’t clear by any means, but it was less muddled and messy, and it was considerably more pleasant to wade through. His thoughts were predictably scattered; a little bit of fear dusting his high, a scattering of confusion when he realised he wasn’t in his bed, but then Ben came into focus, and everything else sort of fell away from him at the promise of familiarity. “Ben,” he rasped, pushing himself up straighter against the wall until the world span on its axis. 

“Easy,” his brother returned, his voice laden with concern. “You took a lot of pills last night, move slowly.” 

Klaus obeyed, trying valiantly not to feel bad. Guilt was something that plagued his mind almost as incessantly as the ghosts. Guilt at the knowledge that his family saw him as a disappointment, at the prospect that he had wasted a significant chunk of his life doing  _ this _ , at the fact that he was ruining his body and most definitely his head. But he knew anyone else would do the same - no one could survive as long as he did, with who he did, without indulging in at least a little self-medication now and then. He could barely fathom how he had managed to last this long himself. 

“Klaus?” 

Ah, yes. That was it - Ben. The common denominator in all his narrow escapes. Ben was how he had survived this long, in a world full of cruel monsters and even crueler people. He was his voice of reason, the beautiful bastard. He felt himself start to drift again, and was perplexed at how the cement floor of an abandoned alleyway could possibly be so comfortable. His thoughts were interrupted once again by a familiar voice. 

“Klaus, you need to get up,” the voice pleaded. “It isn’t safe here, come on.” He looked up into the bright eyes of his best brother and kindest confidant, and found he didn’t have the heart nor the capacity to say no: God, these pills were making him soft. He hoped he could find some more. 

Slowly, and with a great deal of emotional support from Ben, Klaus rose unsteadily to his feet and stumbled out of the alley. The sudden flash of daylight was harsh on his senses, dulled though they were, and he had to fight tooth and nail to keep his eyes open, staggering heavy-lidded and loose-limbed down the street and into swallows of the crowd. He must look ridiculous. 

“That’s it, keep going. We’re almost there.” Klaus nodded, only kind of listening, and then belatedly realised he didn’t actually know where it was they were headed. 

“The Academy,” Ben told him. __

_ “ _ No, no, no! Absolutely not _ \-  _ I am _ not  _ going back there!” Klaus yelled, and a woman who had been passing by him flinched dramatically and hurried her pace. 

“Klaus-”

“No! You said you’d never make me go back there! You said you understood!” Klaus cried, running his hands through his damp hair. 

“I do but you aren’t safe here! You’ve been sleeping rough for weeks, man! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“You’re one to talk.” Klaus muttered, but Ben just stared at him, so clearly exasperated and tired. Klaus was left to wonder once again what it was he actually stuck around for. 

“Okay, look; you’re insanely high right now. You can barely stand on your own two feet. If you won’t go ho- if you won’t go to the Academy, will you at least go stay at a hostel? Where there’s food, and warmth, and maybe a bed? I’m worried about you, Klaus.”

Klaus paused, taking in a deep breath as he closed his eyes. Ben was right, of course he was, even Klaus knew that, but staying somewhere public meant staying somewhere with undoubtedly more ghosts. They stuck to people like leeches; victims screaming for vengeance, lost children calling for their parents, addicts in search of their dealers so that they could splurge on one last hit; (they were bound to be lots of those, crammed in like sardines) hostels were full of people like him. And he really, really didn’t want to be around people like him. But Ben was worried, and he had put up with Klaus’ bullshit for so ridiculously long that Klaus knew occasionally he had to bite the bullet and let Ben have his way. He would deal with it, and he would be fine. He would go back to the alley another night. 

“Okay,” he said numbly, “I’ll stay there. But just for one night, okay?”

Ben nodded enthusiastically, “I’ll take it.”

So that night, instead of crawling into the safe seclusion of an alley and curling up to sleep behind a dumpster, Klaus found himself trudging dejectedly up the steps towards the smallest homeless shelter in the area. Yes, the smaller ones would certainly have less resources and he was far less likely to get a bed, but it was less tightly packed and that meant less ghosts screaming bloody murder at him every chance they got.

He barely even got to share his name with the admin when he arrived - they seemed to recognise him almost instantaneously. Klaus wondered if he had stumbled into this place before, completely off his head, and the memory had simply slipped out of his head. It wouldn’t exactly be out of character. He nodded his thanks at the admin and traipsed wearily inside, relishing in the rush of warmth that rushed to greet him as he stepped through the door. He hummed, pleasantly surprised, and could practically feel Ben’s smug smile radiating off him where he stood with arms crossed, leaning against the door frame. 

  
  


Most of the night passed quickly; he fell asleep almost the instant his head hit the pillow, which he couldn’t remember happening since pretty much the day he left the Academy. His peace was short-lived, however, as he found himself stirring in what he assumed were the early hours of morning. It was winter, so it was still dark outside, but he felt better rested than he had in awhile as he sat up with a sigh and went to retrieve a cup of water. He spotted a silver water fountain situated across the hall from his bed, and slowly made his way over, tip-toeing around the other residents, and being very vigilant about not making eye contact with any of the ghosts that stood listlessly over them. He was light-headed by the time he sat down beside the fountain, and sighed as he took a cool sip of water.

“Can’t sleep?” Klaus froze, his eyes darting about the darkness wildly but unable to dictate where the man’s voice had come from. His grip around the cup tightened until he was sure the water must be close to tipping over the rim. 

“Who’s there?” He replied, cursing himself for the embarrassing waver in his voice. He didn’t fare well in the darkness.

“Oh, where are my manners? I’m Leonard.” The stranger stepped out of the abyss then, and Klaus swallowed drily. The man was tall, still slightly shorter than Klaus himself, but his casual confidence served to greatly exacerbate his imposing figure. He wore a blue linen shirt, which contrasted the paleness of his skin and the deep brown of his eyes and quiff. He looked kind, Klaus knew he did, but something about the hardness of his eyes made Klaus want to shrivel and hide rather than investigate closer. It was an uncomfortable feeling. The man in question seemed startlingly oblivious to Klaus’ discomfort and opted to close the short distance there was between them, in favour of extending his hand towards him. Klaus knew that it would be rude of him to move away so he forced himself to shake it.

The man then asked Klaus his name. Klaus could find no valid reason for deceit, since the man couldn’t track him down using it even if he wanted to and Klaus was as close to being off the grid as a person could get. 

“Name’s Klaus.” He replied, grabbing and shaking the man’s hand quickly in the hopes it would leave him satisfied and spur him to leave quickly. It did no such thing. Instead, the man smiled at him, increasing his grip only tightly enough to ensure Klaus knew he had done it, and eagerly pulled Klaus in towards him. 

“It's nice to finally meet you, Klaus.”


	2. Chapter 2

The next night, despite Ben’s grumbling, Klaus settled himself into the shelter of a narrow alleyway. Drops of the night’s rain dripped from the roofs of overhanging buildings and landed in his hair. He shivered and buried himself further into the sparse warmth of his coat. He slept fitfully and dreamt of a man with dead eyes and a cold face. 

After a few hours, he jolted awake and narrowly avoided slamming his head against the dumpster he had been leaning against. Ben raised an eyebrow but neglected to say anything, knowing Klaus wouldn’t share what had disturbed him even if he asked. He watched as Klaus staggered to his feet, unpleasantly wobbly after drinking too much at the club earlier, and clutched at his stomach as a wave of nausea rushed over him. 

“How are you feeling?” Ben asked, from where he sat on the remains of a wall with his legs dangling over the side, his feet occasionally slipping right through the bricks.

“Just peachy,” Klaus quipped, groaning as the sickening feeling only grew worse with each step he took. “God, I must be getting old.”

“Rude,” Ben stated, and Klaus waved him off.

“Not you, brother dear. You look barely a day over twenty.” He assured him, blowing him a kiss before he slipped out of the alley and onto the street, spotting an electronics store across from him. It was still dark but slowly getting lighter, and the streets were empty as he crossed the road, hoping to deduce how long he had slept by which programme was playing. Instead, as he reached the TV sets playing the morning news through the glass windows, he saw his own father staring back at him. His dead father, apparently. He sighed loudly, steadied himself against the window, and then vomited onto his shoes. 

It didn’t take long for them to reach the Academy, only a half hour walk or so. The news hadn’t said anything about a funeral, but Klaus assumed there would be one. Small probably; Reginald wasn’t exactly a social butterfly. He needn’t have bothered knocking; the door was left unlocked and opened when he gave it only a half-hearted push. He stepped into the foyer, grimacing as his nausea made itself known again, but for a different reason this time. 

He made his way further into the house, eventually finding himself at the door to his father’s office.  _ The forbidden room,  _ Klaus giggled to himself. He made his way inside just as inspiration stuck: this was his father’s office - the room they had been forbidden to enter under any and all circumstances. There must be a fortune's worth of rare possessions hidden inside. Klaus smirked to himself; surely he deserved some sort of compensation for coming all the way down here?

He made his way over to the desk, ignoring Ben’s petty objections, and rifled his way through the drawers in search of any loose cash that may have been left lying around. After a while he made like a magpie and began stuffing his pockets with any shiny things he could find - they had to be worth something. He’d have to visit a pawn shop before going to his dealer. Just as he began searching for the key to the safe, he was interrupted by a loud, deliberate cough. He snapped his head up from behind the desk and saw Allison stood over him questioningly. 

“Allison!” He cried, trying his best to look like hadn’t just been caught stealing from their dead father. He went over and enveloped her in an awkward hug. “How’ve you been, movie star?” 

Allison scoffed, ignoring him and looking pointedly at the bracelet hanging from his wrist. “Fresh out of rehab?”   
  


Klaus froze, following her gaze to the inpatient bracelet he hadn’t been able to cut free from his wrist. He had tried, but he only had so much patience and there were just more interesting things he could be doing than running around the city trying to find a knife. That was more Diego’s territory.

“What? No! No, I’m done with all that.” He said, pulling away and obscuring the bracelet with the sleeve of his coat. “So, what have you been up to?”

Before she could open her mouth so speak another voice filled the room. “Klaus, what are you doing in here?” Klaus turned towards the new voice and found a shockingly large Luther staring at him. He wasn’t sure if it was his high, or his brother’s threatening disposition, or perhaps a hallucination that made him appear larger somehow, but either way he looked  _ huge _ . He allowed himself a moment to process the accusatory expression upon his brother’s face and decided it would be safer if he didn't mention it.

“Luther! You look...well.” He tried, cringing at himself. 

The look Luther gave him could have frozen hell over. “Empty your pockets.”

“Exsqueeze me?” 

“You heard me,” Luther said, taking a step forward. Klaus raised an eyebrow at him.

“Fine, fine.” Klaus relented and did as he told, watching bemused as a handful of gold trinkets and gems scattered to the floor around him. Little did they know, he still had a gold-encrusted box stuffed safely inside his leather pants. “Come on, Ben.”

He took a step forward before suddenly coming to a halt when a heavy hand grabbed ahold of his arm. “What did you just say?” Luther spat, staring down at him with eyes full of cold indignation.

“What?” Klaus asked, confused.

“You said something to Ben…. are you not taking your medication anymore?” Luther asked, his fingers pressing hard into Klaus’ skin. He winced.

“Oh, I’m taking plenty of medication - don’t you worry.” Klaus laughed, trying his best to wriggle free from Luther’s grasp, but the man was immovable. His eyes darted towards Ben as if he could do anything but stand there looking concerned. “Can you please let us go?”

Luther ignored his question, and leaned in towards him slowly. Klaus suddenly realised how small and utterly powerless he was compared to Luther. He didn’t stand a chance. “I’m going to need you to stop saying his name.”

“What are you talking about?” Klaus laughed nervously. 

“Ben isn’t here. What you’re seeing is a hallucination, and you know it - so stop upsetting everyone and just cut it out.”

“Luther-“ Allison started, but she was promptly cut off with a quick glare from the man in question. 

“Do we have an understanding?” Klaus blinked and nodded quickly, his vision starting to swim as he thought of all the ways his brother could hurt him. “Good. So what is Ben, Klaus?”

Klaus quietly mumbled something.

“Speak up,” Luther snapped. 

“A hallucination,” Klaus replied, head hanging low so that he didn’t have to look him in the eye.

“Good, remember that when we’re all gathered at the funeral later.” Luther said, and finally let him go. Klaus jerked away quickly and ran out of the room, his eyes stinging. 

Klaus was put on medication when he was eight. It helped, surprisingly - got rid of the ghosts. But they also got rid of Ben, and Klaus couldn’t have that. Ben needed him; he was the only one in the family who could still see him. And Klaus didn’t want to be alone anymore. 

To add insult to injury, the medication also completely dulled him, starved him of his personality and made him question why he was even here in the first place. His other drugs didn’t do that. They got rid of the ghosts, and they made him happy at the same time. Besides, what was the problem with doing something that actually worked? If anything he was fixing the problem, and either way he’d be dependent on medication for the remainder of his life - he may as well have some fun with it. 

His heart hammered against his chest and he had to clench his fists to keep himself from hitting something.  _ Ben was real.  _ Why was it so difficult for the others to believe him? If they could only see him too, they’d see how real he was, how he behaved so much like Ben and knew things only he could know. Things that Klaus didn’t even know. How could Ben tell Klaus new things if he himself had made him up? It didn’t make any sense.

And Klaus saw ghosts, everywhere. They weren’t just hallucinations -  _ they were real _ . Why else would all his hallucinations be dead people? He knew his siblings all thought he was attention- seeking and that his dad had pretty much doomed him to exile the day he had told them Klaus was crazy, but he wasn’t just making this up. He had a power, just like them! His was just harder to prove, and a hell of a lot more miserable to deal with. It didn’t make sense that he’d be the only one in the family without a power. He refused to believe it. 

Fuck Luther. He didn’t know what he was talking about; none of them did.  _ Klaus wasn’t crazy.  _

He hurried down the stairs and out the back door, making damn sure to slam it loudly behind him, and then went to go find himself a hit of something strong. Being in this house and interacting with his siblings just made me feel extremely uneasy. He reached behind him to uncover the box, eyeing the dozen or so pages of dull transcript that filled it, and casually tossed the tussled papers into the skip. He left the Academy and estimated he’d be back and pleasantly high by the time the funeral rolled around tonight. 

  
  
  


He missed the funeral. 

He hadn’t done it on purpose, but he also hadn’t  _ not _ done it on purpose. Either way, when he made his way back to the house that evening it was suspiciously quiet. He was still pleasantly riding the waves of his high so didn’t worry too much when he couldn’t find his family straight away. He was sure they were fine - not that he even cared. He was making his way over to search the kitchen when he was interrupted by a hauntingly familiar voice. 

“-skipping through time is a toss of the dice.” His heart lurched. That sounded an awful lot like Five. But Five was gone, unless his ghost had finally come back to haunt him. Klaus didn’t know if he wanted that, talking to one person no one else could see was bad enough. He really couldn’t be certain that his siblings wouldn’t section him if he developed a ghostly entourage. He steeled himself and walked inside just as Diego was complaining about not understanding something. He would just have to pretend everything was normal. 

He took a deep breath and walked into the kitchen, spotting his whole family sitting around the table - including Five. Their eyes met and Klaus sighed quietly, turning away from him to go take an empty seat at the table. “Sorry I’m late,” he mumbled, stealing a quick glance to where Five was still standing at the head of the table. He sat at a spare seat and sighed. 

He looked exactly the same as the day he had left, save for the oversized suit he adorned. He was still thirteen which Klaus supposed made sense - that was his age when he had gone missing and/or died. Why had his ghost taken so long to show up, then? 

_ “Maybe because he's not real _ ,” his brain supplied unhelpfully. 

A few seconds passed and he had not yet received a response - that was strange. It wasn't out of character for his family to disregard him, insult him even, but to ignore his existence completely? That was a new low. He tore his eyes from where they were tracking the intricate grooves in the table and looked up to see his whole family staring at him, slack-jawed. 

“Are you not going to say anything?” Luther asked, frowning. 

Klaus paled. “I said I was sorry, I just lost track of time.” His eyes darted back to the ghost of Five, who was staring at him curiously. “It was an accident.”

“Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Diego interrupted, “How high are you that you can’t see your own brother standing right in front of you?”

“I can see you.” Klaus frowned, feeling like he was missing out on something important. He glanced around the room but couldn’t find anything that would explain his sibling’s strange behaviour. 

“Not me, Klaus! Five! Our missing brother, Five who’s standing right in front of you!”

Klaus’ mouth fell open, but that meant... “He’s alive?” He asked, then turned to face Five. “Are you alive?”

Five almost looked concerned as he nodded, “Yeah, Klaus I’m alive.” 

“Oh my god.” Then, in a moment of confusion: “Can you see him, too?” He asked, gesturing wildly towards Ben who was watching him sadly. 

His siblings followed his gaze and Klaus could immediately decipher from their expressions that he had embarrassed himself. He fought hard to recover. “I’m kidding, guys.” He laughed, forced. “I don’t see stuff like that anymore. I don’t - I’m just kidding.” Luther glared at him, fists tightening and Klaus fought hard not to wince, holding his bruised arm protectively.

His siblings just continued to stare at him weirdly until Five brought the attention back to himself and explained to them all in very vague terms what had happened to him. He told them he had gotten stuck in the future, and was now in his thirteen-year old body with a fifty-eight year old mind. Klaus did his best to listen, occasionally losing himself to his thoughts. Five didn’t seem overly invested in their understanding of where exactly he had been or how it had happened, and disappeared quickly afterwards with a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, and not so much as a wave goodbye. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me: I'm going to update this one super regularly!!!  
> also me: doesn't update for 2 months


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fair warning that there is a lot of klaus bullying in this chapter so don't read on if that makes u sad. or maybe do still read on its your life <3

Klaus had wanted to leave the Academy as soon as Reginald’s funeral was over, but they had all been told very explicitly by Luther that they’d have to stick around at least until the particulars of their father’s will were finalised. Apparently, Reginald had made it unnecessarily complicated and so himself and all the others had agreed to stay another week or so at the house until everything could be figured out. Klaus supposed that was okay; it wasn’t like he had any other plans. Ben had pointed out to him that it might even be nice to stay somewhere safe and warm for a little while. Besides, he had really missed baths. 

After Five’s mysterious reappearance, Klaus left his bedroom and found the place to be oddly quiet. Where was everyone? He peeked his head around everyone’s doors but couldn't find anyone. Frowning, he padded downstairs to continue his search when he heard the sounds of muffled conversations emanating from the living room. The doors were closed. He made his way over and was about to reach for the handle when a collective shout shocked him into jumping back. He frowned and leaned in again, pressing his ear up against the door. 

Their words were muffled, and hard to work out but he could hear Five speaking over them, louder than the rest. He heard loose-ends of what they were saying:

“Apocalypse… Klaus… powers…”

Klaus’ heart thudded in his chest - what the hell were they talking about? Was there going to be an apocalypse? What did Klaus have to do with it? Did they need to use their powers to stop it? 

The clear sound of footsteps approaching shook Klaus out of his daze and he managed to duck behind a pillar just in time to avoid being seen as everyone filled out of the room. They wore uncharacteristically sombre looks on their faces and Luther even looked like he was deep in thought. 

_ Luther? Thinking? That couldn’t be right... _

“And remember what I said, guys,” Klaus heard Five say from behind the door. He watched as the others turned back to face him solemnly. “He can’t know. I don’t even know what the consequences of him finding out would be. So just keep it quiet, okay?”

Everyone nodded slowly and departed, while Klaus slid down to the floor, still out of sight with his back pressed up against the white pillar. 

  
  


He kept to himself until the evening, content to watch everything unfold from a relatively safe distance. Now that he knew Five was not, in fact, a ghost, he was more than a little bemused about how he had gotten back, and why he had chosen to do so now - right after their father’s funeral. It didn’t help that the others were all apparently holding secret family meetings without him. Secret family meetings about an _apocalypse_ , of all things. Surely he could be of some use to them? Powerless or not, he wasn't entirely useless. He could be a lookout, if they let him. Why wasn't he allowed to know what was going on?

He wondered why Five had chosen now to return. Maybe his timing was intentional and he had actually hated Reginald as much as Klaus did, and had timed his return so that he wouldn’t have to run into the old man. He figured that was unlikely though; nobody hated Reginald as much as Klaus. Maybe Reginald caused the apocalypse when he died? No, that didn’t make sense. Was it all accidental? That didn't sound like Five. Regardless, Klaus had to find out what was going on - if only to sate his curiosity. 

He wandered into the foyer where he stumbled across Diego, decked up in knives and leather and looking like he was going to wreak havoc on some criminals - either that or spend the night at a BDSM club. Either way, Klaus wanted in. 

“Hey, Diego what’s the rush?” Klaus asked, stepping into his line of sight and trying to seem as nonchalant as possible. 

Diego seemed to startle slightly before quickly collecting himself. “Not now, Klaus.” He snapped, trying to sidestep him and failing. 

“I was just wondering if I could tag along, to clear my-”

“I’m not giving you a ride to meet your dealer, Klaus.”

“No, that’s not-”

“Klaus, I’m kind of in a hurry here.”

“Yeah, okay.” Klaus held up his hands in surrender. “Sorry.”

He hurried back up the stairs, wrapping his arms around himself. He did want to know what was going along, but he didn't need his head getting bitten off for trying to find out.

He heard a sigh from behind him.

“Fine.” 

“Huh?” Klaus asked, turning around. 

“Just hurry up if you’re coming. I have something I need to do.”

Klaus’ eyes widened and he thanked Diego, following him out to his car. He shuffled over so that Ben could sit beside him in the back. His brother was mostly obscured by his hood but Klaus thought he still caught sight of a small smile on his face. 

  
  


The drive was mostly silent, but occasionally Diego would sigh loudly or grumble to himself and Klaus would ask if he was okay, only to quickly be reprimanded and told to “let him drive in peace.” They eventually came to a stop outside a river, where Diego seemed to brood for a while before tossing something in that Klaus wasn’t close enough to see. 

The rest of the drive was spent in silence; the only noises being that of the car engine and his and Ben’s occasional mutterings. Klaus decided now would be as good a time as any to bring up what he had overheard earlier. He cleared his throat. 

“So, what have you all been up to?”

“Uhh wh-what do you mean?” Diego spluttered unintelligibly. 

Klaus frowned; Diego only stuttered when he got nervous. What did he have to be nervous about right now? 

“I mean, what have you been up to?” Klaus repeated, “I haven’t seen or heard from anyone since last night, when Five came back.” That wasn’t strictly true; Klaus had overheard everyone talking in the living room earlier, or mumbling, rather. But Diego didn’t need to know that.

“Oh, yeah me either.” 

“You haven’t seen anyone?”

“Nope.”

Now,  _ that _ was strange. Diego had definitely been talking with the others. Why was he lying to him? Klaus decided to let it go for now - he’d find out eventually, maybe.

“Sure.” 

They drove a little while longer, passing by a few familiar buildings, and after a while Klaus realised that they were actually just driving loose circles around the city. 

“Klaus?” Diego asked after a few minutes of quietly watching him and Ben talking in the rear view mirror.

“Hmm?”

Diego seemed to steel himself before asking his next question. “When did you stop taking your medication?”

Klaus sighed. “When I realised I was being lied to.”

“But you’re still on drugs?”

Klaus frowned, “What’s it to you?”

“Can’t I just ask what drugs brother’s taking? Jesus. I’m trying to show interest here” 

“Well, do it normally.” Klaus snapped. “Xanax.” 

“What?”

“Xanax. That’s what I’m currently on.”

“Oh, good.”

“Good?”

“No! I mean, no. Drugs are bad.”

“Okay…”

They fell into silence again and Klaus turned to share a look with Ben, who looked just as bewildered as he was. 

“Still seeing ghosts?” Diego asked, clearly referring to how Klaus was mouthing something to what Diego perceived as thin air. 

“If you’re just going to call me crazy, I’ll get out here.”

“I mean, I wasn’t going to use that word.” Diego joked. “Just- you know Ben’s not there, right?”

“Stop the car.”

“Klaus, come on-“

“Stop the car or I’ll jump out while it’s still moving!”

“God, fine!”

The car screened to a halt outside of a shady-looking club. It practically pulsated with heavy pop music and strobe lights shot out every time the door opened and shut.  _ Perfect _ . 

“Thanks so much for the lift.” Klaus snapped, stepping out of the car and slamming it once Ben was out, too. 

Diego rubbed his hands down his face and sighed, hitting the steering wheel a few times once he knew Klaus was out of sight, before pulling out of the street and heading back towards the academy. 

  
  


Klaus arrived back at the academy in the early hours of the morning, pleasantly buzzed after a night of heavy drinking and dancing. After dry swallowing another pill on the doorstep, he waltzed inside and collapsed onto the couch in the living room. He barely had a chance to shut his eyes before Pogo sauntered in, his face schooled into a sour expression. 

“Master Klaus,” he greeted.

“Hey, Pogo. How’s things?”

“ _ Things _ are not great,” he grimaced. “I’m afraid one of your father’s most valuable possessions has gone missing. A priceless book casing with gold inlay.”

A gold book casing? How had he missed that? 

“Oh, how terrible.” He replied, all faux concern. 

“Indeed. It contains very sensitive documents. However, if the person who stole it came forward about its whereabouts, they would be absolved of any and all consequences.”

Even as high as he was, Klaus could the pointed judgement laced into Pogo’s statement. He shuffled nervously, gripping his wrist, despite not having done anything. It annoyed him a little, that Pogo had automatically assumed he was culpable; not that he was above a little stealing - he just hadn’t spotted it. And he hadn’t needed to steal anything here yet, he still had enough cash from the streets to last him a couple more days. 

“Oh, well. Lucky bastard. I hope you find whoever took it.”

“Indeed,” Pogo replied, expression unchanged. He continued to stare at Klaus for a while, as though he were trying to decide something, and then left with a small shake of his head. 

Klaus decided he would try to find the gold box, even if he hadn’t been the one to lose it. It’s not like anyone would believe him if he said he hadn’t done it. Besides, he was already the insane one in the family - he didn’t need to be seen as the asshole one, as well. That spot was reserved for Reginald, or Luther on his bad days, or just about anyone else in their family, now that he really thought about it. 

He’d been searching the house for nearly two hours when an idea came to him. What if someone just threw it out by mistake? He had seen Luther going through Reginald’s things earlier that day. Maybe he’d accidentally thrown it in the wrong cardboard box and it’d ended up in the trash? It would be an easy mistake to make. It was also a little amusing that Luther, Reginald’s precious number one, could have been the one to toss out his most prized possession. Oh, how the tables turn. 

He made his way outside where he knew the dumpster sat secluded in the alleyway. After only a moment's hesitation, he leapt inside, and rummaged around until he could no longer stand the smell of putrid garbage filling his nose. He came up gasping for air, only to spot Five climbing down the fire escape above him. 

“Hey, Five.” He said, waving his ‘hello’ hand. 

Five ignored him, and Klaus was sure he saw him grimace. He thought that was rude, but the guy had been stranded alone in the apocalypse for 45 years, so he supposed he could be forgiven for his lack of social graces. 

“Oi!”

“God, what is it?” Five snapped, jumping to the ground with a thud. 

“What are you doing?”

“None of your business.”

“Jeez, the apocalypse changed you.” Five spun around at that, and seemed about ready to smack him so Klaus fought to right himself. “Sorry - too soon! I was just going to ask if you needed any help.”

“Why would I need _ your _ help?”

Klaus paused, slightly stunned. “I just thought you might need someone-”

“And how would you even help me, hmm? With your _ powers _ ?” 

Klaus frowned. What was with everyone lately? “I know you don’t believe me but-“

“Just leave me alone, Klaus. I’ve got more important things to be doing.” 

“Right,” Klaus mumbled, but Five had already zapped away. 

Later that day, Klaus walked in on his siblings conducting yet another family meeting without him. He went staggering inside, intent on making quite a significant dent in the bar reserves, but had barely set foot inside before everyone started screaming at him to get out. 

“Oh, hey guys! I was just-”

“Klaus!”

“Klaus, get out!”

“This is a family meeting, Klaus!”

That last comment stung the most, especially since it had been Vanya who said it. They had never been close, but he had thought they had a sort of mutual respect for each other when they were younger. He hadn’t remembered her being quite so mean. He swallowed thickly, grabbing the nearest bottle he could find at the bar and slamming the door on his way out.

He shouldn’t have been surprised. He was always excluded from missions and training by his father, and the others were encouraged to follow his example and bar him from playing with them, too. He piled most of the blame onto his father, and had always found it rather easy to absolve the others of any guilt. It wasn’t their fault, after all. They were just kids. And they were right to be cautious, he was broken and abnormal, he had proven that to everyone on many occasions, and thanks to Reginald they thought he was powerless as well. But all of his logical reasoning didn’t make the pain of exclusion sting any less. 

He had always found it difficult to understand why Reginald hated him so much. Was he so bad? So evil? Just because they thought him to be ordinary? But their hatred was so evident, sometimes Klaus felt he must have done something to make them all hate him so much. What was wrong with him? And even now, with their father dead and buried, his influence was still painfully reinforced. It was unavoidable; Klaus would remain an outsider within his family until the day he died. 

Klaus spent most of his time hiding inside his room with Ben, although on occasion his brother would sneak out to spy on the others. Out of curiosity, he said. But Klaus knew how much he missed them and he honestly couldn’t blame him - it was hard to hate people who were only ever kind to you. And everyone had loved Ben; they probably wished Klaus had been the one to die. Ben had been hurt when Klaus had told him that, but they both knew it was true.

Klaus spent the evening listening to his headphones, staying in the bath until the cold chill drove him out, and he resorted to smoking out of the window instead. It wasn’t the best fix, but he thought he should at least stay half-coherent if he was going to be forced to be around his family for the time being. It was only for a few days, after all - he would manage. 

He found sleep hard to come by in his bed. It was bumpy and uncomfortable, and the memories of childhood nightmares clung to the sheets like stale cigarette smoke. 

He awoke in the early hours with the world still dark outside and made his way downstairs. He wandered the living room with Ben nipping at his heels, his fingers dancing over book spines as he drifted across his father’s collection and waited for a cover to peak his interest.

“What are you doing?”

Klaus spun around with a gasp, but quickly relaxed when he realised who it was. “Jeez, Five. What are you creeping around for?” 

Five took a step closer, “I asked my question first.”

“Fair enough,” Klaus sighed, rubbing his eyes. “I couldn’t sleep.” 

Five nodded, “Me either. Too many memories in this place.” 

Klaus scoffed, “Tell me about it.” He turned away to continue perusing the book shelf, finding himself lacking the motivation to keep the conversation going. He was also a little sore from their talk earlier. He turned back to look at Five when something caught his eye. “What happened to your face?”

Five frowned and brought a finger to his lip, wincing when he grazed over the cut there. “Oh, that.” He smirked, “Vanya’s doing. We had to get some information about something, and this gave us the perfect ammunition.”

“Some information about something,” Klaus murmured. “Don’t spare me any details, will you?”

Five rolled his eyes, “It doesn’t concern you.”

“Does it concern the apocalypse?” 

Five froze immediately, his shoulders tensing so much they almost reached his ears. “Where did you hear about that?”

Klaus smiled, “I  _ may _ have eavesdropped on one of your lovely little family meetings earlier today. They sounded awfully important, so-”

Klaus didn’t have time to finish his quip because Five had him silenced and restrained before the words could even escape his mouth. “What did you hear?” He spat, his eyes burning with an intensity Klaus had only ever seen in the eyes of an addict gone too long without a fix.

Klaus struggled against him, but between his fatigue and the amount of drugs currently flowing through his veins, he found he was hardly in the position to put up much of a fight. And Five was weirdly strong for a thirteen year old. 

“Nothing!” Klaus yelled, as loudly as he was able with an arm around his neck. “That’s literally all I heard, I swear!” 

Five eyed him for a moment before releasing his grip and allowing Klaus to crumble to the floor. He coughed violently, hands grabbing at his neck. Five went to sit back down at a chair, still facing him.

“So,” he continued, looking at him expectantly. 

“So?” Klaus croaked, eyes wide. 

“You still crazy?” 

Klaus scoffed in disbelief, gritting his teeth. “I am not crazy.” 

“Well, that’s debatable. You were hallucinating Ben earlier.” 

Klaus scrambled to his feet, swaying slightly. “Ben is real. He’s a ghost, okay? That’s why I can still see him.” Five raised an eyebrow, sceptically. “I can see ghosts.”

“Sure you can, Klaus.” Five replied easily, “and I’m sure Reginald told everyone that you didn’t have powers just because he didn’t like you. Or was it because he was too busy training the rest of us? I’ve lost track of your excuses Klaus.” 

Klaus took a few steps back. He knew to expect this from the others - they had all disregarded him for years. They are believed he was powerless, ordinary, just a junkie - but Five? Five was smart, he hadn’t been under Reginald’s reign for nearly as long as the others. He should understand.

“Why are you being like this?” Klaus asked, wrapping his arms around himself. He idly realised that he was shaking quite violently by now. 

“I’m doing you a favour, Klaus. I think it’s time you grew up, and got some help,” Five said, walking over and placing a firm hand on his shoulder. “You’re embarrassing yourself.” 

Klaus wrenched his shoulder out of Five’s reach. Five only smiled bitterly and Klaus was left reeling and wondering why on Earth he had ever even missed his brother. “Fuck you,” he chocked out and hurried out of the room. 

Once he was absolutely sure Klaus had left, Five sighed deeply and made his way over to the bar to begin dampening his guilt with a glass of whiskey. He shook his head as he went back to his seat, telling himself that this was necessary. It was all for the greater good. He couldn't know anything was up.

That information didn’t help his conscience, though.

He downed his glass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh my god this was so mean. so, so mean. why did i do this. i am so sorry, sincerely. i promise it's all for a good reason and that things will become more clear in the next chapter - which! i have already written and will get out asap! 
> 
> rip klaus and also my feelings
> 
> leave comments validation is my kink!!!


	4. Chapter 4

The journey to the Academy had been hell; he was bone-tired, mentally exhausted, and felt as though his legs would give out at any moment. But at least he was back home.  _ Home _ . It was such a foreign concept to him now, after years spent stranded in the dust and rubble of the apocalypse. He shook his head; there wasn’t time to reminisce now. He had come back for a reason - he had a job to do. 

Five called the first family meeting the day he arrived. Everyone had to be there, but not Klaus. He couldn’t know; it would ruin the whole operation. Thankfully, he seemed to be locked away in his room doing God knows what, so Five was able to easily zap in and out of everyone’s rooms uninterrupted to let them know what was going on. 

He watched patiently from his bar stool as his siblings filed into the room, wearing expressions ranging from bewilderment to fully fledged frustration. He couldn’t say he blamed them. 

“Five,” Diego greeted, taking a seat at the bar beside him.

Vanya followed suit, but Allison and Luther still seemed affronted and chose to stand before them with their arms crossed.

“Hey, everyone. Grab yourself a drink.” Five said, motioning towards the plentiful array of liquor bottles scattered across the bar, “I owe you all an explanation of sorts.” 

“Of sorts,” Allison scoffed. “You owed us all an explanation hours ago, Five - as soon as you came through that portal or whatever the hell it was.” 

“Close enough,” Five replied. “I had to get my thoughts in order first, time travel really takes it out of you. You’d understand if you’d ever done it.”

“Did you seriously just patronise us for not being able to time travel?” Vanya asked, smirking. 

Five ignored her. “Look, we haven’t got a lot of time. I have some important news and I’m counting on you being able to digest it quickly so we can get to work, okay?” 

“Wait, where’s Klaus?”

Five waved his hand dismissively, “He can’t be here for this.”

“What? Why not?”

“I’m sure Five has a good reason, Diego.” Luther said, eyeing him scathingly. 

“And I’m asking him what that is, Luther.” Diego snapped, his fingers twitching over the blade in his hand. 

“God, can you two please stop arguing for five minutes?” Vanya complained, turning to Five. “I know this is a family meeting and Klaus never came to those before, but we’re adults now, Five. It seems a little sketchy that we’re not all here.” 

Five raised an eyebrow in surprise. “Huh, I didn’t realise you would all care so much. You all seemed so dismissive of him earlier.”

There was a collective sigh.

“Well it is still  _ Klaus _ .” Luther replied, “I mean, he is a little… you know...” Luther whistled and made the accompanying gesture with his finger.

“Christ, Luther.”

“What?” 

“You know, I wasn’t actually done talking.” Five snapped, staring daggers at his two brothers. “There are important things you'll need to know and the sooner we get them out into the open, the better. Okay?”

Silence.

“ _ Okay _ ?” 

“Oh, yeah.”

“Yep.”

“Go ahead, Five.” 

Five eyed them all skeptically for a moment before sighing and spilling his secrets. “Four days from now, Klaus is going to bring about the apocalypse, and we are the only ones who can stop it.” 

The silence that followed was nearly deafening, but it only lasted a few short seconds before, in true Hargreeves fashion, all of the siblings erupted with questions all at once. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” 

“Did you say apocalypse?”

“How the hell is Klaus involved?”

Five sighed, gritting his teeth. “I get that you all have questions.Trust me, this took awhile for me to get my head around, too.” He stood up to fetch himself another drink, after noting that his current one had already run dry. “I know you’re all young, and inexperienced, and kind of useless, but in order for you to understand, we’re going to have to talk about this calmly and-“ 

“You’re thirteen years old!”

“I don't get it.” 

Five scowled as his siblings continued to speak over him, clambering desperately for his attention all at once. It didn’t take long for his patience to run thin. He was running on fumes, after all.

“Shut up! God, now I know how Klaus feels.” Five sighed as his siblings stared at him, confused. He rolled his eyes. “I know this is crazy, trust me. I get it. But you need to actually listen for once in your lives. Can you do that?”

All of the siblings nodded, albeit begrudgingly. 

“So, remember how Klaus has always said he sees people we can’t see? Dead people?” 

Diego nodded knowingly, “his schizophrenia.” 

“Reginald  _ told us _ it was schizophrenia, and that he was hallucinating. He was even given medication as we all know, and no one even really questioned it. But we should have.” He drummed his fingers along the bar, itching to find something stronger to drink. “ Because Klaus isn’t schizophrenic - he’s a seance. He can see the dead. And he’s probably one of the most powerful out of all of us.”

“So you’re telling me,” Luther began. “That Klaus has had powers this entire time?”

Five nodded. “That’s what I’m saying, yes.”

“Holy shit.” 

“How did you even find this out?” Allison asked.

“From my employer.”

“Your employer?”

“Look the less you know, the better. You’re all just going to have to trust me on this.”

“Trust you? You’ve been gone for over a decade!”

“Seventeen years for you, but who’s counting?”

“How can you be sure it was Klaus who caused it?” Diego asked.

Five sighed, already exasperated and wishing he could just crawl back into bed and sleep the day away. “Back where I worked, we would get these transmissions telling us what had to happen in order to ensure important historical events went forward. Who had to die in order to save someone else, or vice versa. Minuscule things that, at first glance seem insignificant, can end up having a monumental impact. The butterfly effect.” Five reiterated, taking another swig of his drink. 

“I knew that the apocalypse was going to happen, obviously, and I knew that I needed to prevent it somehow. So, I managed to intercept a transmission addressed to another field agent and it read as follows: Protect Klaus Hagreeves. Ergo…”

“Klaus causes the apocalypse,” Vanya breathed. 

“Exactly. Being that only something extremely powerful and/or destructive could cause that kind of damage, it stood to reason that Klaus somehow had powers all along and we just weren’t aware of it. Either that or he got his hands on an atomic bomb, which I find hard to believe, personally. Even for Klaus.” 

There was a beat of silence before Diego hesitantly spoke. “None of us believed him.”

“You couldn’t have known. Reginald was very adept at manipulation, and lying. Not to mention, you were all children.” 

“No, you don’t understand, Five. We treated him like shit. We all thought he was crazy.”

“Well, it could be argued that you should have treated him well regardless of his mental state, but that’s a conversation for another time.” Five glanced over at his siblings and saw they weren’t going to let this go easily. 

“Klaus is about as sane as a person could be when they’re constantly being haunted. Which means that he probably isn’t all that mentally healthy despite the misdiagnosis. And his behaviour when high would have been similar to symptoms to schizophrenia: Hallucinations, delirium, impulsiveness… a bad trip could look similar to a psychotic episode to someone who is misinformed. It was meant to be believable - Reginald made it that way. It’s why we never thought to question it. But we can’t focus on this right now - what’s important now is that you do exactly what I say, and that no one tells Klaus the truth about his powers.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if he knew?”

“He is going to know, soon. But if he finds out before he’s ready he might lose control… and that won’t bring about anything good. First, I need to find out where this damn eye came from,” Five explained, relinquishing said prosthetic from his pocket and smirking as his siblings recoiled in disgust.

“And when I find out how it links in to everything, I’ll tell Klaus about his powers when the time is right.” Everyone exchanges guiltily glances, and Five sighed. “Look what’s done is done. Klaus already feels powerless, but all we can do now is ensure that the entire world doesn’t suffer because of it.You all need to keep up appearances,” he continued. “Klaus can’t suspect anything is wrong. That means acting the same around him, treating him the same as before.”

“So, keep calling him crazy and stuff?” Luther asked.

“If that’s what you did before, yes. Going by his little escapade this morning, is it safe for me to assume he’s off his meds? And taking something more… recreational?”

“Uh,” Luther replied, glancing around at his equally clueless siblings who simply shrugged in response. “I guess?”

“Christ, have you not kept in touch at all?” Five snapped, “He’s obviously on _ something _ or he’d be much more jumpy. One of you needs to find out for sure. As long as we keep him here, and keep him… sedated, we might actually be in with a chance of stopping this thing. He can’t cause an apocalypse while he’s high, after all.”

“Why not?” Allison asked, frowning. 

Five spun around and stared at her. “Please be joking.” When she didn’t respond, he took a deep breath and muttered around his glass. “His powers don’t work when he’s inebriated.” 

“What, really? Does that work for all of us?” Luther exclaimed.

“Why don’t you grow a pair and find out for yourself?” Diego quipped. 

“You better watch your mouth.” 

“You know on our 21st birthday we all went out for drinks,” Diego began and turned to face Five. “We never really hung out after we left the academy, but we thought this was a good time to catch up. Have our first legal pint and all that good stuff. Wanna know what this guy ordered?” 

“Boy, do I.” 

“Water! Wanna know why? Because he was worried  _ daddy _ might call him for a mission and he’d wouldn’t be sober enough to go!” 

“I have a lot riding on me, Diego! It’s important-“

“I doubt you have  _ anyone _ riding on you, big guy.”

Luther flushed crimson, “that’s beyond inappropriate, you-“

“Oh my god, shut up!” Five cried, slamming his hands on the bar. “Can you at least get your side acts under control until we know the world isn’t about to spontaneously combust?” Everyone turned to look sheepishly at him, as if it only just occurred to them that he was still in the room. He cleared his throat and continued, “As I was saying, we need to keep Klaus here where we can keep an eye on him. That way I can work out what the catalyst was for all this and we can avoid whatever it was that set him off.” He swallowed and spoke a little quieter, “And we need to keep him under the influence.”

“You mean we’re going to let him keep doing drugs?” Vanya asked, shocked. 

“Were you doing anything to help him get sober before?”

“Well, no-“ 

“Great. It won’t be a problem then.” Five exclaimed, getting to his feet. “As lovely as this has all been - I need to go put some things in order. I’ll be back by dinner. We’ll regroup again later.” He turned towards Vanya who raised an eyebrow in question. “On account of my current,” he gestured vaguely towards himself, “condition, I’ll need your help getting into the place where this eye was produced. I doubt they’ll let just anyone wander in. Don’t suppose you know of anywhere that makes prosthetics?” 

“I might, there’s this place - Meritech. I don’t think it’s that far.”

“Great, we better get going.” 

He shrugged on his academy jacket and then paused to spare them all a glance. “Klaus is already starting to believe that he’s crazy, thanks to you guys. We can use that to our advantage. Push him over the edge, it might just save the world.” 

As everyone filed out of the room, Five continued whilst stood against the door frame. “And remember what I said, guys. He can’t know. I don’t even know what the consequences of him finding out would be. So just keep it quiet, okay?” 

The others all nodded and within the blink of an eye both Five and Vanya had disappeared into thin air, leaving the rest of them to stew in their own guilt for a while. 

“So, you still don’t know who’s eye it is?”

“No, the guy said it hadn’t even been manufactured yet. The whole thing was a dead end.” 

“Security ruff you up on your way out?” Diego mused, referencing Five’s busted lip. 

“That was me.” Vanya said, oddly proud of herself. “We were going to pin an assault on this guy if he gave us no leads.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately there wasn’t even any leads he could have given us. So other than organising a stakeout, there’s not much else we can do for now.” 

“That where Luther is?” 

“Yeah. I let him borrow my van; we’re all going to take shifts watching the place until something crops up.” 

It was evening now as the siblings continued to discuss strategy. They talked logistics for a while, until suddenly the door to the living room burst open and Klaus came staggering in. He looked worse than usual; his skin was impossibly pale, clashing with the dark shadows of his under eyes. His eyes themselves looked wild where they darted about in search of something. Despite his frantic desperation, as soon as he caught sight of the others he brightened and seemed to sober up ever so slightly. 

“Oh, hey guys! I was just-” 

“Klaus!” Allison cried, impulsively jumping to her feet as if she could hide what was very obviously going on.

Diego did the same, his voice slightly wavering as he yelled, “Klaus, get out!”

“This is a family meeting, Klaus!” Vanya cried without thinking. 

Klaus seemed to freeze where he stood, leaning against the bar and for a second he looked so  _ broken _ that Five had half a mind to call the whole thing off and tell him everything that had been going on. But before he could ruin everything by opening his mouth, Klaus’ demeanor seemed to change. It was as if a metaphorical wall went up around him, protecting him from anything the others could say or do to him, and Five was left wondering just how sturdy that wall was, and if it really offered him any protection at all. Within seconds, Klaus had rushed over and rummaged through Reginald’s bar with an expert hand, pulling out a generic bottle of vodka. With a smile that looked more akin to a snarl, he staggered past them and slammed the door shut so hard Vanya’s eyes flashed white.

A heavy silence ensued.

“Has everyone got their schedules written down for the stakeout?” A half hearted glance around the room told Five that everyone had nodded. “Okay. I’ll see you all later.” He flashed out of the room without another word - destination clear in his mind. 

Five wasn’t crazy. He felt it was important to always preface this before he let people any further in - it was an easy mistake to make, after all. Dolores made it so. Five wasn’t an idiot - he knew she was a mannequin. Luckily, he had managed to hide her from his siblings so far, much to Dolores’ annoyance, but it was only a matter of time. Eventually he would have to steel himself and spit out the phrase he knew so well: “I’m  _ not _ crazy.” 

But to Five, Dolores wasn’t just a mannequin, in a similar way to how Diego felt Grace wasn’t just a robot. Or how Luther would argue Reginald wasn’t just a sadist. Five did find it slightly amusing that he was probably more unwell than Klaus was, and yet Klaus was the one who was constantly chastised. But Dolores was real. She’d been there for him when no one else had; they’d been together forty five years and he wasn’t about to let a few misguided nobodies tell them what was and wasn’t real. 

After zapping to the place they had first met, and having a long overdue reunion, Five zapped both himself and his lover into Reginald’s study. Since Meritech had been a frustrating dead end, he needed to search for any clues that could give him an insight into how to keep the apocalypse from happening. First, he scoured Reginald’s papers for anything he could find regarding the apocalypse or Klaus. Nothing came up for the former, and very little at all came up for Klaus. He was mentioned in passing, always regarded as the only ‘ordinary’ sibling. In fact, every paper he came across said the same exact thing. 

He searched through all of the newspapers and magazines about the academy and, sure enough, if Klaus was featured then more often than not, there was that word again: ordinary. Or, occasionally Reginald would spice things up and use connotations: “Number four is the only ordinary sibling in a family of extraordinary ones. He is normal, regular, bland, inadequate,  _ ordinary _ .”

By the time Five had finished his research, the word may as well have been pressure marked into his skull.  _ Ordinary _ . He wondered if it was intentional, that the reason Reginald wanted him labelled that way so badly was because he knew it was especially important that Klaus believed it. Perhaps Reginald knew something that the others didn’t. Could he have known that Klaus would bring about the apocalypse all along? Five’s heart hammered inside his chest and he decided he had done enough work for the day.

He hadn’t meant to get wasted, but it would seem his tolerance wasn’t nearly what it had been now that he was stuck inside this prepubescent body. It was quite embarrassing, really. He was vaguely aware of strong arms hauling him up, along with Dolores who he clutched close to his chest, and then he blinked and he was in his bed. It had been a while since he slept in a bed, but it was difficult to overthink as the world span around him, so he just let himself sink further into the pillow and settle with the weight of Reginald’s words heavy on his mind. 

Five was intelligent enough to know he may have a problem. But he was also stubborn enough to realise his habit wasn’t of the utmost importance right now. There was no point quitting cold turkey if it meant he couldn’t even think straight. He had a mission to complete. There wasn’t _time_ for anything else. There was never enough _time_. So, Five had delegated that the only meetings he would be attending for the near future would be family ones and the others were simply put on the back burner for when this was all over and done with. Dolores didn’t like that, but what did she know? She was just a mannequin, after all… He didn’t mean that.

At some point in the night, Five got up to get another drink. He wasn’t usually like this - he had enjoyed the occasional glass during the apocalypse - of course he had. Who wouldn’t? Alcohol was a cure all back then. Not enough food? Fill your belly with rum instead. No disinfectant for that scrape? Drench it with vodka instead. No hope of returning to your family? Well…. it wasn’t his fault that was nearly always the case. At least he hadn’t gone as far as Klaus had. Five only drowned his sorrows with booze and caffeine, he hadn’t even turned to something stronger. No syringes for him. Not that he’d had much of an option at the time - all the needles were cracked.

So, when Klaus stumbled into the living room for the second time that day, Five didn’t hold back. He was drunk, which made it easier for the cruelties to slip from his tongue. He  _ needed _ to nail it into Klaus’ head that he was powerless. What would happen otherwise? He could get sober, which would mean his powers would be unruly and he could lose control. And he couldn’t have that. Just a few more days and the date of the apocalypse would have passed and Klaus could know the truth. Then they would all be safe. That was how it worked, right?

And despite how much as he despised bullying his brother, their awful remarks had worked to fuel his drug use before and that’s what he needed now. If he found out the truth, that he’d been lied to all his life, he could get angry and lash out without ever meaning to. Five never remembered Klaus being even a remotely violent person but he had also been gone for a long time. Seventeen years was a lot of time to harbour resentment. And God knows Klaus was entitled to a lot of resentment towards his family. In any case, Five knew that if Klaus could just get them all past this week, everything would be fine and Klaus could be told the truth without it risking everything. Like it or not, this was what needed to be done. And if picking on Klaus meant saving his family and the rest of the world- then there was no contest. 

But Five had a tendency to run his mouth when he was intoxicated, (much like someone else he knew) and so the longer he spoke, the darker his words became and the less he recognised himself. So when Klaus brought up the apocalypse, a word that should never have found its way into Klaus’ mouth, he lashed out. One minute he was standing still and the next he had his arm wrapped around Klaus’ throat and he couldn’t remember how it got there. But he had said  _ apocalypse _ . He had overheard them talking. Was that it then? Had Five already blown it? Had he sentenced everyone to an early grave with no way to fix it? 

He made sure to make his next words really hit home with Klaus, as if maybe that could undo the fact that Five had already screwed them all over. And then he was forced to watch, too unsteady to move, as his brother ran from the room with tears in his eyes and Five could only hope that the world hadn’t ended already. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter took the absolute heck to write down but here we are! and it didn’t take me a whole month to update it this time!! little victories 
> 
> you know, I’m ngl I’m just really hoping this chapter works like timeline wise and stuff because I am so out of it atm and idk if Five’s explanation even made sense. idk hope u like it either way lol


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